Cool For The Summer
by namelessjen
Summary: After Troy and Gabriella can't seem to make long distance work, Troy's home for the summer and everything changes. *re-posting this and finishing it this time* Yes it's Troypay - Will write a different pairing next time xx
1. Chapter 1

Sharpay was home for the holidays and coincidentally so was the boy of her dreams, her performing dreams that was. She had always known there was something special about the loveable basketball goof, she just hadn't figured it out until her junior year of high school.

Then it hit her, he was her leading man. She knew that she wasn't always going to sing with her brother, not only was it a conflict of interest, it was actually kind of extremely weird to most people, and most people were who she planned to impress.

Now Troy had only just arrived home to an empty house, his parents had gone away for the summer, leaving the college freshman alone in the family home. And everyone knows what that meant, party!  
Sharpay knew as soon as Troy had texted her, that this was her chance. Gabriella was no longer a local, which meant she could no longer interfere like she always seemed to do. It was /now or never./ Troy was surprised to hear the doorbell chiming so early, the party wasn't going to start for another two hours, and even then.

Nobody wanted to be the first to arrive, nobody except for sharpay who seemingly always had to be the centre of attention including now it appeared.

"Sharpay...hi" he greeted her awkwardly, obviously not expecting her.

"Troy!" She squealed, enveloping him into a crushing cuddle.

"You're early" he noted, turning away from her to hide his haunted face.

"You can never be too early" she pointed her finger in front of his face. "Never" she repeated, before skipping over to the nearest sofa.

"Did you want something to drink? I mean I'm still getting ready here so I don't know what else I can offer you.."

"Just a water is fine, crushed ice." She demanded in her personalised form of charming.

"Coming right up" he murmured, not being able to leave the room fast enough in his mind. Sharpay was great, in small doses. Preferably with a supervising adult present at all times. He didn't know why, but she always seemed to have a thing for him which was fine, every guy wants a pretty blonde having the boys for them, but he wasn't interested in her, or any other blonde. His heart was already taken and Sharpay was well aware of that.

Between fiddling with the ice machine and finding a glass that looked remotely clean, Troy was banking on an absence of at least seven minutes, It was a wonder his guest wasn't pushing her way into the kitchen to see how he was doing.

Not that he minded the time to think of his plan of action, that was perfectly fine by him. He just hoped he wouldn't get into trouble. The truth was he was scared of Sharpay. He had known her for most of his life, yet she had always intimidated him with her mood swings and demanding personality, and without Ryan by her side she was a ticking bomb, he knew it wouldn't be long before she was roping him into some show or another.

"Here you are." He smiled sweetly as he placed her ice cold beverage on one of his mother's home made coasters, there were so many memories in that house.

"Perfect" she grinned, opening her purse and producing her very own straw. It was pink of course, if it had been any other colour Troy would have been surprised.

"It's just water..." He responded awkwardly. She had this way of overrating every action he made turning it into some kind of amazing action.

"I know" she giggled, sipping at her straw and looking over at him. "Sit" she instructed, patting the spot beside her enthusiastically.

Troy did as he was told without asking questions, he lifted his foot to rest against the leg of the coffee table. "So, how've you been?" He asked nervously, bracing himself in case she screamed excitedly again.

"Well you know what Troy, I could have been better" she said sadly. Sharpay was one of those people who were so good at performing that it was hard to tell when they were acting, or when they were being genuine. He didn't know if this was just an act, or if she really was upset.

"Why, what's wrong? You can talk to me." He offered sincerely.

"I've always been destined for stardom, ever since I was in diapers. It's just, not everyone can see how talented I am." She sighed, nibbling on the end of her straw softly. Her eyes had melted into the likeness of milk and honey. He couldn't help but feel bad for her.

"You'll find people who see your talents." He promised, giving her a supportive smile. "There is one thing I do know about you Sharpay, it's that you are a hell of a performer."

"You mean that?" She asked smiling from ear to ear, and for a moment it felt like they were actually normal, like he could have a real two way conversation with her. Troy had never felt like that around her, it was nice.

He nodded his head sincerely, smiling straight at her. He did mean it, she was a overbearing crazy person a lot of the time but she did deliver an entertaining performance every once in a while.

"Thank you Troy" she grinned, crossing one leg over the other. "You really are the sweetest guy I know. Gabriella is lucky to have someone like you."

Troy stiffened, he wasn't expecting Sharpay of all people to be mentioning his high school girlfriend, especially not in such a non condescending manner. He hadn't told anyone the truth yet, and for some reason or another he really didn't think Sharpay was the person to open up to on the matter. "Oh, um yeah. I'm lucky too." He smiled awkwardly wishing the ground would swallow him whole. If this was actually happening - which he still wasn't entirely convinced that was the case. If this was real, it meant that those who actually liked Gabriella were bound to be asking about her absence, and he just didn't know if he was quite ready to tell anyone the truth. Even if it had been months. At least if nobody knew about it, he could pretend it was all just a bad dream.

"So, what do we need to do before everyone gets here?" She asked him, standing to her sparkly feet. "I know I'm not the hostess, but I am a woman. I know a thing or two about decorating." She smiled before tapping her nose knowingly. "Now just tell me what I need to do."


	2. Chapter 2

Troy was surrounded by people but he felt more alone than anything else. Chad and all the old basketball guys were out side showing off their new moves, Taylor and Kelsi were gossiping with some of their old classmates, and Sharpay was nowhere to be seen. Troy had lost her not long after his house started filling with bodies. He wasn't going to look for her, but still. It was strange that she had backed off so quickly. Troy knew that she had crushed on him for years but he had never taken the bait. She was a bit too full on for his comfort, but still she never showed signs of moving on.

"Hey wildcat." Troy looked up to the owner of that voice, it was Martha, an old classmate and one of Gabriella's closest friends. "Hey, how's it going?" He smiled politely.

"It's not really my scene." She shrugged, sitting down beside him. They were now both sitting at the bar stools along the bolton's kitchen counter.

"Mine either, ironically." Troy chuckled, reaching for his cup. Martha took a handful of crackers and nibbled at the first one.

"It's been so long since I've seen most of the people here. It's weird, we've probably all changed a lot."

"Some more than others." Troy said sadly, looking behind him over to the crowd of young adults.

"Oh, except her." She nodded over towards Sharpay who was awkwardly stepping over everything as if she were trying to cross a lava filled stepping bridge.

"That's one thing you can count on her for." He joked, waving back at one of the jocks from back in high school.

"I thought she would surprise us all and become almost human."

"She's always been human, she just hides it. Well."

"What do they all see in her?" Martha questioned, watching all the boys drool over the immaculate blonde.

"They see what they want to see, we all do. I wanted to see my girlfriend as the person I would always have to count on, but that wasn't true."

"Troy." Martha pouted, wrapping her arm around him. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. I was the stupid one." He laughed bitterly, standing to his feet and waving goodbye to Martha.

"Want to go outside with me?" He asked Sharpay over the music, her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. Her hair bounced as she nodded, grabbing hold of his elbow as he steered her out of the crowd.

"Where have you been all night? You disappeared." He questioned as they walked out into the cold evening air.

"There were a few people I didn't want to be seen by."

"Really?" He asked, shocked. He always pegged Sharpay as one who always loved people watching her.

"Yeah, believe it or not. I'm not exactly everyone's favourite person Troy." She laughed.

"True, but then again neither am I."

"But you're Troy Bolton"

"So?" He shrugged.

She smiled with the realisation, things weren't always what they seemed. "Where are we going anyway?" She asked, changing the subject. Troy hadn't let on anything that answered the question of why he had wanted to go outside with her, it was out of character.

"Just needed some air, thought you did too."

She nodded, looking down the lamp lit street. It was nice, the two of them standing there together. She hadn't had much alone time with Troy before but this was definitely something she could get used to.

Troy caught her eye and smiled at her sweetly, he wrapped his arms around himself, closing himself off.

She looked down at her jimmy choo's and stopped herself from sighing. He didn't want to be in her company, he just didn't want to be alone.

"Do you remember two summers ago?" Troy broke the silence, Sharpay looked back towards him. Nodding her head at the memory a smile started to form.

"Which part?" She snorted, shaking her head at the memories that instantly flashed back.

"When we sang together, amongst other things."

"I guess until then you probably didn't realise how intense I could be." She laughed.

"Well I mean, I knew..I just hadn't had much first hand experience." He teased, nudging her shoulder with his arm.

"Singing, performing. It was the only thing I seemed to be good at. It sort of got to my head a little."

"You were driven, I get that. In a way you were lucky. I was always so confused, basketball was something I didn't have to work hard at to be good, but to be better? I had to go the extra mile, and in the end I wasn't even sure if it was my dream anymore." Sharpay looked at him sadly, she had never seen it from his point of view before. In a way she had always seen him as the boy who could do anything, not as the boy who couldn't decide what he wanted. He was trying to shrug it off, but she knew that he was still thinking about it.

"Maybe you should get back to the party?" Sharpay suggested, reaching into her purse for her phone.

"You aren't staying?" Troy asked, noticing her phone.

"Ryan's plane is landing soon. I thought it would be nice to go and greet him home. Before college, we hadn't been apart. Unless you count the two minutes when he left the womb first." She laughed.

"Say hi from me alright?"

She nodded. "Of course."


	3. Chapter 3

From: Gabriella Montez

Subject: I've Been Thinking

Troy,

We have had so many amazing memories together these past few years. I wouldn't trade a single second of them for the world, you have taught me to be a better person, you inspired me to do more, to see more and be more. I love you Troy, and I think a part of me always will but I just can't do this anymore. I can't hold onto you when our lives are going in different directions, it's going to come to a point where we are at a crossroad, and our vehicles are about to turn different ways, and if we keep holding on. One or both of us will get hurt. I don't want to be that girl who holds onto the boy just because of the what if's. I don't want to be the girl who holds you back either. We haven't seen each other in months, and it hurts. I can't hold onto you anymore and I think it's best if you let go of me while you can. I'll never forget you or the time we shared together, you will always be my wildcat Troy Bolton, never think for a second that I didn't love you because I did. You're an incredible person and I will always remember you.

Love Gabby.

Troy had read that email over and over for weeks, it was so sudden to him who had thought everything was going well between the two, he cried, more than once. It was hard to keep his tears from his college roommate, but not impossible. At first he hadn't told anyone the news, he thought that if he didn't say the words out loud that he could pretend that it wasn't true, he didn't mention her name unless he had to, "How's Gabriella?" His mother would ask on the phone, he would hold back his pain and lie straight into the receiver. "She's doing great Ma." He would report, trying his hardest to keep it together.

It wasn't until a game against U of A, when Chad was staying the weekend. Did he finally have to rip the bandaid off, Chad was in the middle of making the spare bed when Troy spilled the news. "Hey man, I've gotta tell you something."  
Chad's face had concern washed over him, he looked at his friend, who did look kind of off to him now that he was finally looking. He didn't know what the next words would be.

"Gabriella and I broke up." Troy finally spoke after at least half a minute of awkward silence.

"What? When did this happen?" Chad asked, cupping his best friend's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Troy shrugged. "I got the break up email about a month ago. Still haven't responded." He laughed sourly.

"An email? Dude, uncool." Chad shook his head.

"It's not like we live in the same town anymore." He knew he didn't have to defend her, but for some reason he felt obligated to do so. It was an old habit, which he knew he shouldn't keep but he couldn't help it. He loved her, no matter how hard she had kicked his heart. He still loved her.

"Do you think Taylor knows?" Troy smiled at Chad's question. It was so him to bring up Taylor at a time like this. She always seemed to know everything and it drove Chad crazy when she didn't tell him things.

"Probably, but who cares? It's happened. It's not a secret." Or at least not Anymore he added to himself.

"Sorry I wasn't here though, " the boys shared a look, it was one that they both understood. They were brothers, best friends who would always be there for each other.

"Thanks man." He smiled, ruffling Chads curls, as he walked back to his own bed, he climbed in under the blankets, the lights were switched off, and he was there laying in the dark with his thoughts keeping him awake. There had been many nights those past few weeks where he lay there restlessly, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders, his heart would ache and he felt broken. He felt like there would never be a moment when he would feel whole again. He was shattered, it was like he couldn't breathe. He didn't have enough tears for the pain he was feeling.

This was not one of those nights, he still had an unsteady feeling in his bones but he felt stronger than he had for a while, he reached to his bed side table for his phone and opened the email that had changed everything, it was there in the dark that he began to type.

To: Gabriella Montez,  
Subject: RE: I've Been Thinking

Gabriella,

Sorry that I haven't responded to your email soon. I've been busy, a lot has been on my mind these past few weeks and I didn't think until now, what I would say to you or how I would do it. The truth is, I love you and I always will. I would have done anything to make it work between us. This is not me trying to win you back; this is me trying to be honest with you. We are adults now, and I think I should start doing that more often. Gabriella, you have broken my heart and I probably don't want to see you again for a very long time. Please don't tell me that we can be friends, because I already know that as soon as I see your face all these feelings will come back to me, the feeling of having my heart ripped out, the feeling of knowing that you don't want to try, we've had our ups and downs but we always got through them. Why couldn't we have done the same this time? I have so many questions, but I'll never have an answer because it hurts too much for you to remain in my contacts. I don't know how long I will feel like this, but I feel like it at the moment. I don't regret a single thing in our relationship, and I know that in my heart I will forgive you eventually. Good luck with your life.

Troy.


	4. Chapter 4

Ryan's phone flooded with messages as soon as he had switched the device back on. His flight has landed on time, but he had no idea who to expect on the other end to greet him.

Kelsi had mentioned something about a party at Troy's the same night. So he thought he could probably count her out for Airport pick up, he hadn't spoken to Sharpay in a while, but she was his only twin, then there were his parents. Probably away on some business trip, or spa resort. He had no clue.

"Ryan!" He turned towards the voice, it was his sister. He smiled, waving towards her. He had missed his sister no matter how full on she could be at times. He was glad to see her again. The twins greeted each other in a warm, welcoming hug. "I've missed you." Sharpay told him, not ready to let go.

"Missed you too sis." Ryan told her, wrapping his arms around her a little tighter.

"Daddy is coming home tomorrow, he is looking forward to beating you in golf."

Ryan rolled his eyes as the two of them let go of their embrace. "He is dreaming, I might have been away at school but that doesn't mean I've lost my skills."

Sharpay giggled. "I guess you'll just have to play it out and we will see."

Ryan wheeled his bag behind him, all the way out to the car park, he listened to Sharpay's long list of plans for the summer but he was hardly paying attention.

On the drive home, all he could do was stare at his phone, waiting for his girlfriend to reply to his texts.

They had seen each other only a week ago, but he had missed her like crazy. Exams had been crazy, but Kelsi had finished hers sooner than he had and besides Ryan thought he should have a few days extra to wind down before returning home. He remembered kissing his girlfriend goodbye at the airport, and watching her plane take off before taking a cab back to campus. He had missed her the second she left, and yeah he was a little bummed that she wasn't at the airport to greet him, but he knew she was probably at Troy's party. Her phone was probably out of reach, in her car or her pocket, and he wanted her to have a good time even if it was without him.

The Evans' childhood home was empty, their parents were both away so the twins had the house to themselves for the evening. Sharpay went straight back to her bedroom, leaving Ryan to unpack his things.

It felt good to be back in his old room, amongst his old things. He say down on his king sized bed, a luxury he hadn't had in a while, he wiggled around, feeling his weight dip into the soft mattress. He smiled as he looked around his walls, posters in frames, he looked over at his cabinet, trophies and photographs still on display. His room was always his sanctuary growing up. It felt good to be back between those four walls, surrounded by things that he was proud of.

He felt his phone vibrating in his pocket, laid back to jimmy it from his tight slacks.

A smile flashed across his face when he saw the name appearing across the screen.

Kelsi3

1 New Message From: Kelsi

He opened the notification, and smiled reading the welcome home greeting from his girl.

Welcome back Ry, can't wait to see you. It's been a long week! Wish you could have come to Troy's tonight. It was great being around the old gang. Everyone misses you. Not as much as me though! Haha. I'll come over tomorrow and we can make some of those crêpes we tried to whip up on thanksgiving. Hopefully this time we don't send off the smoke detectors! Love you xox


	5. Chapter 5

Chad took a running leap over Troy's bed and other the mattress that laid beside it on the floor. Everyone had finally gone home, but Chad was staying the night like old times. Troy was rummaging around his suitcase for a shirt to wear. He rolled his eyes at Chad who had missed the mattress completely, now laying on the cold hard floor in a heap.

"Dude." Troy laughed, Jumping onto his bed still laughing.

"I almost had it." Chad defended him, climbing onto the mattress.

"How much did you have to drink?" Troy asked, shaking his head in disapproval. Neither of them had been interested in alcohol during high school, but college? It was a way a rite of passage.

"Not as much as Zeke man, he had to be carried out."

"What was up with that anyway? I thought he hated the stuff."

"He's still hung up on Sharpay, I don't know why. It's not like it was a two sided relationship." Chad laughed, tossing Troy's pillow basketball into the air and catching it repeatedly.

"You don't know that."

Chad looked at his friend in confusion, "Dude what's up with you? You haven't acted this different since I found out about your secret love for musical theatre."

Troy rolled his eyes; he didn't have a love for musical theatre. "Have I turned up in your mom's refrigerator yet?" He asked with a sly smirk.

"No, but there is something up with you and I don't know what you're keeping from me."

"I'm keeping nothing!" Troy swore, hands in the air surrendering.

"If I find out there is something, you're giving me your new Nike's. " Chad threatened.

"You're not getting my Nike's, because you're paranoid."

"I'm not paranoid." Chad shook his head and pointed his finger; he didn't want Troy thinking that.

Troy was the first one awake the following morning, he let himself out of the house and went for a run, he had been doing that lately, it cleared his head, let him think about everything. He liked having some alone time without people asking him if he was okay. He really wanted people to just treat him the same way they always did. He didn't like their pity. It made him feel like he was trapped in a box.

A car slowed down beside him, Troy looked over at the driver. It was Kelsi, great. He hadn't expected anyone to be out and about this early. The sun had only just risen, he had thought he'd be safe.

"Hey" Ha waved politely, stopping to chat for a second.

She wound down her window and switched her music down, "Where are you going?" She asked curiously.

"Just out for a run, clear my head. Why are you up so early? The Kelsi I knew could sleep well into the afternoon."

"I promised Ryan I'd come over and make him breakfast."

Troy nodded, young love, oh how he missed it.

"That's nice, I'm sure he'll be well looked after."

She grinned, thinking about her boyfriend made her face light up like a Christmas tree. "He will be."

"Well I'd better not keep Ryan waiting." Troy told her, wanting her to leave him alone, Kelsi nodded, promising to catch up with him soon before driving off.

Troy kept running, he ran until he couldn't breathe, he'd catch his breath and keep on going until his body started to ache, he kept pushing and pushing until he felt like he was going to collapse right there.

He sat down on the lawn of a random house, head against his knees he sat there breathing heavily. His heart thrashed against his chest, his lungs were wheezing and he thought as though he was never going to breathe again. Tears stung his eyes as he sat there in pain, he was groaning and moaning and grabbing at his chest to try and find some comfort. He sat there until he felt like he could walk again, he walked home in agony, trying not to make his lungs hurt too much, by the time he was home he was dripping in sweat, his hair was all messy, and his face was the colour of his old basketball jersey, he felt like he could sleep and never wake up.

Chad took one look at him and shook his head, he pointed his finger at his friend. "I knew something was up with you!"

Troy just shook his head, trying not to cry before retreating into his bathroom. He locked himself in there and curled up into a ball, crying his eyes out. He tried to keep himself quiet but gave up after a minute or so. He wasn't ashamed of letting his feelings out, not anymore. If Chad heard him he no longer cared, he stepped into the shower and stood there motionless allowing the water to drip down his fully clothed body, he stared at a crack in the wall, and tried to drown his sorrows, he let the water wash away his sadness, or at least that's what he was aiming for.

Chad was walking on egg shells around Troy for the rest of the morning, offering to make him breakfast, asking him what he wanted to do instead of dominating the plans. Troy didn't care, he didn't feel hungry and he didn't care what video games they played either. He had taken no pride in his appearance, having shoved on an old t'shirt from his East High days and random jean shorts he didn't even remember owning.

"You pick, I don't mind." He fake smiled, as Chad offered two choices of games, it's not like he didn't want to play with his best mate, he just didn't have a preference, and his mind was elsewhere.

Chad handed him a controller, and started up the game, Troy thought it was best to act normal, he figured if he tried he could eventually feel good again right?

"So, did you and Taylor catch up last night?" He asked Chad, his hands busy tapping at buttons on the game.

Chad was a little more enthusiastic in his gaming actions, he was really getting involved. "Yeah, we caught up. In your room." He teased, trying to throw Troy's game off.

"You'd better not have." Troy elbowed him, his eyes never leaving the screen.

"I could if I wanted to, but I'm too good of a friend."

"But seriously, are you two good? I didn't see you together last night."

"We're fine, we talked, we hanged. She just wanted time with the girls you know how they are."

"Yeah, I guess I do."

Troy heard his phone beeping in his pocket, he dropped his controller to check his messages, Chad screamed excitedly, Troy's character had died consequently after he abandoned his console.

1 New Message

Sender: Sharpay Evans

Message: Thanks for the chat last night. Kelsi said she saw you this morning running? Maybe we could run together some time :)

Troy quickly typed his reply, sending it just in time to start up another round of the game.

To: Sharpay Evans

Message: Tomorrow okay?


	6. Chapter 6

Troy hadn't expected Sharpay to be so focused on running, she actually wanted to run, which wasn't what he had been expecting. He felt silly for assuming that Sharpay would have been up to her old tricks, lying about wanting to go running just to feel close to him. He was shocked to know that he was the one who didn't actual want to run. He had just wanted the company.

"What's a matter wildcat?" She had teased him, as he ran up behind her. They had run 1.5 miles, and ended up back on Sharpay's driveway.

Troy just shook his head as he gulped at the water running down his throat from his water bottle. Sharpay had hardly broken a sweat, she stood there on her perfectly manicured lawn, looking as though she had just stepped out of a sports catalogue.

"You run like this a lot?" He asked once he had caught his breath. Sharpay shrugged, "Central Park was always my favourite place to jog. I would run through there and it felt like nothing could touch me. I know I don't seem the type, but for once, I didn't care what anyone thought of me. I was working hard to stay in shape, and get to know nature and all that."

"You're not the same Sharpay from high school."

She shook her head, "I'm definitely not her anymore." She agreed, before offering to take him inside to relax a little. Troy accepted her offer he walked into her house behind her. It was probably one of the biggest houses Troy had ever stepped foot in. He felt like he had walked into a castle. The ceilings looked a million miles tall, and the staircase made his look like a step ladder.

"You know in all the years that I've known you. I've never been inside your house."

"I know." She told him, normally Troy would have taken that creepily but today was an exception.

"So where's your brother? I still haven't gotten a chance to say hi to him since he's been back."

"He's either in his room with Kelsi, or in Kelsi's room with...Kelsi."

"So they're pretty serious then?"

Sharpay shrugged, "As serious as college freshman can be."

"Sophomores." Troy corrected, not that it really mattered anyway, the feeling of being in between school years had always made him feel like he needed to be better, in high school he needed to become the new and improved Troy both on the basketball court and in his circle of friends, but now? He didn't know where he stood, he hadn't made a whole lot of friends in college, just his roommate and a few guys from the team, but nothing like the friendships he had built at East High, they were more like brothers.

"Right, I always forget." Sharpay laughed, she was making her way up the stairs, and Troy followed her on what felt like an endless journey, he never realised how rich the Evans' were, he knew they were loaded, everyone did but he didn't realise how loaded they actually were until this moment.

Sharpay opened her bedroom doors like she was opening a Broadway curtain, she revealed a bedroom that Troy swore was the size of his entire house. "Wow." He couldn't help but whisper when his eyes were poking out of his head. He looked in every corner soaking it all in.

"So this is where you grew up huh?" He asked, still mesmerised by the whole set up.

"Oh no this is just my teenage room, my parents still have my old room set up the way it was when I was building a barbie dream community." She chuckled, walking into her wardrobe, there were walls covered in shoes and racks of clothes hanging everywhere, she closed herself inside to change, walking out in a new outfit that Troy couldn't describe with anything except the word "wow" It seemed that was his new favourite word.

"So, we could go and check if Ryan is here if you want?" She suggested, pointing to the door of her room.

Troy shrugged, "I thought maybe we could just hang out for a bit." The truth was he didn't want to run into Kelsi, she was one of Gabriella's best friends and he couldn't stand being around someone who was going to give him pity. He liked hanging around Sharpay, because he knew that she would never willingly mention Gabriella. She was his safety net, his chance of escape from everything that reminded him of the pain that was weighing him down.

"Maybe you could teach me how to shoot hoops?" Sharpay asked, crossing her fingers and biting her lip, she knew how pathetic she probably sounded but she didn't really care, if she got to spend time with Troy doing something that he loved, maybe he would want to return the favour, either way. A chance to get close to him was good enough for her. He was her dream guy after all. He always had been.

Troy thought about it before agreeing. "Do you have a hoop?" He asked, wishing he hadn't.

She snorted, "Do we have a hoop?" She mocked, grabbing his hand and taking him down stairs, Troy had no idea where they were going until she opened a door he swore was never there when they had arrived, behind the door was an indoor gym, she opened a panel on the wall and a basketball hoop came down from the roof and into place. "What team?" She asked with a smirk.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry that it uploaded a gilmore girls chapter. i fixed it. Funny story though, I was wondering where that GG chapter had gone. It had been mislabeled!**

Ryan had it all planned out, he had rose petals and candles with chocolate covered strawberries, he had converted his room into a romantic sanctuary just for the occasion. Kelsi had been nervous, she knew that their evening was going to be special but she had never done anything like it before. Ryan was only her second boyfriend, and her and Jason had never gone all the way before. Her heart was pounding the entire evening. She had even spilt her drink during dinner but Ryan didn't seem to notice because he was a bundle of nerves himself, no girl had ever returned his feelings before, he'd had crushes but Kelsi was his first girlfriend, his first everything. He just wanted their first time to be everything it could be, he wanted it to be something they would always remember.  
He blind folded her at the top of the stairs, she giggled blindly following him down the hallway and into the doorway of his room. He made her stand in the doorframe as he rushed to light the candles. "Okay, it's ready." He announced, walking behind her to untie her blindfold.  
She gasped, it looked like something she saw in the movies, "Ryan." She aww'd, turning around to kiss him. "All of this for me?" He nodded, reaching for her hand. "Sharpay is sleeping over at her friends, so we have the whole night to do whatever you want, we can just watch movies, listen to music, talk. You name it and we can do it." He smiled, kissing her sweetly on her freshly glossed lips.  
She kicked the door shut behind them and wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kisses. Ryan rested his hands on either side of her waist, returning her same enthusiasm.  
Soon they had to come up for air, Kelsi gasped, giggling. She took a step back onto Ryan's bed and removed her shoes. "Strawberry?" She asked him, leaning over to grab one from the tray.  
Ryan jumped onto the bed beside of her, "Careful, don't get it on your pretty dress." He said, wiping a chocolate smudge from her chin. She smiled, turning around so he could help her unzip it.  
"You know, nobody has done this for me before." She told him as his shaking hands unzipped her gown, his cold fingers sent shivers down her hot spine. "I mean, this is the most romantic thing anyone has done for me." She continued, feeling his warm lips against her back.  
"I wanted you to feel special." He told her and oh did she feel special.  
"Ry" She whispered, turning around to face him, all she wore now was her underwear, she filled the gap between them, kissing him softly at first, before running her hands into his hair. He laid down against his pillows and she followed resting her body on top of him.

"Sharpay!" Troy cheered as she stood in his doorway, he had invited her and her friends over for a slightly more intimate get together, his friends from college had turned up unannounced but he didn't mind, he needed some new distractions. He was slightly tipsy already, Sharpay knew this because she could smell it on his breath. He leaned over and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "The girls are here!" He called out to the guys who had thought it was the pizza.  
Sharpay looked over at her friends and shrugged, they hadn't expected to see a drunk Troy Bolton that evening, but Sharpay had assured them that they'd have a good time.  
"This is Hannah, Tristy and Gen." Sharpay introduced to the three boys who were lounging out on Troy's living room sofas.  
The guys made room for the girls to sit down and Sharpay saw the girls starting to relax. She turned to Troy who was still draped around her shoulders. "Let's go and get you some water." She suggested, dragging him towards the kitchen.  
He sat himself up on top of the counter, playing with his mother's key-rings. Sharpay scanned the fridge for something to feed him too, all she could find was old take away containers with half eaten meals inside. "Have you been eating like this the whole time you were at college?" She asked, grabbing a plastic cup from the cupboard, she thought plastic would be safer considering his mental state.  
"I eat." He assured her, grabbing her arm as she came closer. She sighed handing him the cup of water. "Drink this first." She instructed, pushing his hand towards his mouth.  
Troy did what he was told, sipping it slowly. He watched Sharpay who was making sure he was sobering up.  
"Why are you doing this?" He asked between sips.  
"Doing what? Taking care of you?"  
He nodded.  
"Because we're friends Troy, and drinking isn't going to make you feel any better. I am just thankful that you don't have long hair. I'm not in the mood to hold back disgusting puke stained hair from your face."  
Troy chuckled, "I feel fine."  
"Keep drinking your water." She nodded, knowing what else to say.  
"You're a good friend you know."  
She smiled, "Thanks Troy."  
He reached over and grabbed her arm gently. "Don't let any of the guys hit on you okay? They're not the right guys for you."  
Sharpay agreed to not hook up with any of Troy's friends, although she couldn't help but think about poor Zeke, she knew he wasn't like these guys but she wished Troy had given the same advice to him about her. Maybe then she wouldn't have hurt him over and over.  
"Sharpay where are you?" She heard one of the girls calling out for her, she turned to Troy. "Do you still need me here?" She asked, he shook his head letting her go back out to her friends. He sighed, alone yet again.

Kelsi and Ryan had fallen asleep, they were still wrapped up and tangled against each other. Kelsi woke up and poked her naked boyfriend to get him off her leg. Ryan rolled over, still half asleep. She tried to pull her leg free but he was still entrapping it. "Ryan" She whispered, shaking him gently, it didn't take long for him to open his eyes and adjust his position, allowing her leg to break free.  
He smiled, and she smiled back at him. "I love you." She whispered, and said it straight back at her. He pulled her in for another gentle kiss, running his fingers up and down her back softly.  
"I am a very lucky guy."  
"and I am a lucky girl." She added, kissing him again, "A bit sore, but lucky."  
He chuckled, "Sorry about that."  
She shook her head, "Don't be."  
"I like waking up next to you."

Spin the bottle was in motion, Sharpay had so far dodged the bullet the first four turns. The girls were all squealing and the guys were laughing. Lips were meeting, and drinks were being passed around. She was scared, she hadn't had a lot of kissing experience yet and these were college guys who she imagined had kissed a few girls in their lives considering how good looking they were, it was her turn next and she was hoping it would land on one of her friends, at least then if it was bad they wouldn't say anything about it. They weren't like that, but these guys? She had never met them, she hated the idea of them mouthing off back at college about Troy's friend who sucked at kissing, she realised it was her turn when everyone started cheering her name, "Oops, wasn't paying attention." She giggled nervously. The bottle started spinning and she had her fingers crossed that it would land on one of the girls, she silently cheered when it went past one guy, two guys, three but when it did land she felt like her stomach had moved to her throat, she stared at the receiver of the spin and her eyes widened. Troy smirked at the guys, and crawled across the circle, for a second Sharpay wondered if he was still drunk, but there was no time to think about this. She was about to kiss her high school crush and she had no time to rehearse, before she knew it her eyes were closed and Troy's lips were up against hers, she mimicked his movements and rested her hand against his shoulder as he kept on kissing her. It was only a few seconds, maybe ten or fifteen but to Sharpay it felt like an eternity. When they broke apart she smiled to learn that he was smiling already.

The guys all slapped Troy on the arm in a boyish congratulations, she could feel herself blushing already and reached over to grab a slice of pizza. What the hell had she done? Now she knew she was going to fall for him harder, and he only saw them as friends. This was not going to end well, she could feel it.


	8. Chapter 8

"You kissed Sharpay?" Chad asked in disbelief.

Troy shrugged, throwing his basketball against the wall, he and Chad were in his room, and Chad had sat himself down at Troy's desk and was playing video games on his computer.

"It was spin the bottle dude, it's not like I kissed her because I wanted to." Troy defended himself, almost knocking over his Spiderman lamp.

Chad wasn't convinced, "You'd better pray that nobody took pictures, Zeke will flip out if he finds out."

Troy shook his head, "Relax man, I have it all under control." He promised, catching the ball before it bounced into something important.

"You'd better; I don't want to be around when Zeke kicks your butt."

"I'm not going to give him a reason to."

Sharpay was freaking out at home, sure she had never been close with Kelsi, but she had stayed the night with her brother and she was limited in the friends department. She was pacing back and forth in her bedroom; Kelsi and Ryan were sitting on her bed, watching in confusion.

"This can't be happening!" Sharpay yelled clearly distraught. "We have to do something, I'm Sharpay Evans, and I'm not going to feel like this anymore!"

Kelsi turned to her boyfriend, they were both thinking the same thing. The old Sharpay was back. She looked over at Sharpay who was still ranting about how Troy was making her feel weak, she didn't want to feel insecure, she was a star and stars needed to shine.

"Sharpay! Calm down." Kelsi tried to intervene.

"Calm down? How can I? I have stupid butterflies in my stomach! I didn't invite them!" She groaned, grabbing a pillow from beside Ryan and screaming into it.

"You like him don't you?" Kelsi asked, since her boyfriend was somewhat silent.

"No." Sharpay whined, lifting her head up from the pillow. "I don't like that basketball robot any more than I liked the other one!" She had actual tears now and Kelsi didn't know what to do.

"Don't worry, she doesn't mean it." Ryan whispered, knowing his sister more than anyone.

"He's still hung up on Gabriella." She started sobbing; Kelsi patted her on the back in comfort although she felt like she wasn't helping at all.

Ryan wanted to talk to Kelsi alone, Sharpay had stormed off to have some retail therapy and the pair were finally alone. "Are you going to tell Gabriella about this?" He asked her, worried on behalf of her sister.

Kelsi sighed, she didn't know what she was going to do. "I mean she's moved on but she's my friend."

"She's my friend too, but Sharpay is my sister. It's not her business what Troy gets up to."

Kelsi knew this, she did but she felt like if she kept it from Gabriella it would be like going against the girl code or something.

Ryan nodded, watching her face change. "You're going to tell her aren't you?"

Kelsi's eyes drooped, "I'm sorry Ryan, please don't be mad with me."

Ryan shook his head, "I'm not mad at you. I'm just worried about my sister."

Sharpay was loading her car with bags of new clothes, things she didn't really want or need but shopping was her way of coping. She was trying to make everything fit when a voice called out from beside her car, a boy stood leaning against his truck with his arms folded across his chest. "Need some help?" He asked, fixing his bandana.

Sharpay smiled, "What are you doing here Troy?" She asked, fixing her hair in his car window reflection. Troy shrugged, stepping away from hi truck.

"I was in the neighbourhood, and saw your car, thought I would say hi." He said casually.

"Well, if you must know, I was shopping with the expectancy to drop any time soon."

"How are your feet?" He asked nodding towards her Jimmy Choos, Sharpay followed his gaze.

"Oh, yeah they're good for another ten minutes or so."

He grinned, "Want to grab a frozen yoghurt? I'll even time it for ya." He pulled out his phone and started a timer. She laughed, he really was such a goof.

She knew that as soon as she got home she would probably be kicking herself again but she couldn't help it. He was right there with his stupid sexy smile and that Troy Bolton charm. She couldn't help herself.


	9. Chapter 9

Troy lifted his last spoonful towards his mouth, Sharpay was telling him all about her adventures in New York earlier that year. He was listening, or at least half listening. He didn't know why, but he enjoyed her company. It was strange, he knew this. She wasn't exactly always his favourite person but people change right? He could still see the old Sharpay in amongst whatever had happened to her in New York. He smiled, dumping his cup into a nearby trashcan.  
"Sharpay." He stopped her, walking over to a flyer he had spotted on the ground. He reached for it, picking it up and flipping it over. "Annual Talent Show, Sign up outside Target." He looked at Sharpay; she stared at him trying to figure out if he was serious.  
"It will be fun." He begged, she was mulling it over he could see it in her eyes. Troy often got what he wanted, and Sharpay was very much the same. "Okay, fine." She caved.  
Troy fist bumped the air, "This will be great." He promised her, thinking to himself, Gabriella would hate this. "You won't regret it." He told her, kissing her cheek. Maybe his intentions were wrong, or maybe they were right. This was the perfect opportunity to try new things right? He needed to get out there, to live his life while he still could. This was no big deal; Sharpay lived for these kinds of things. It's not like he was forcing her into a hot lap down at the race track.  
"I know." She smiled, knowing that she could never regret singing with Troy Bolton.

Kelsi had logged into her Facebook after she had returned home. Her parents were working, which kind of actually sucked and she had nothing better to do. Between liking and sharing funny photos, and commenting on some of Zeke's baking jokes, the experience was most definitely boring. She switched over to the chat bar and scrolled through the online contacts, Zeke Baylor, Martha Cox, Chad Danforth, Ryan Evans, and a few other classmates she didn't really talk to. She checked the time for the ninetieth time and decided to message Ryan,  
Kelsi: Hey babe  
Ryan: Miss me already?  
Kelsi: ha ha you bet.  
They continued the light and fluffy conversation, it was the usual boyfriend, girlfriend stuff., nothing to serious and it would have continued if Kelsi hadn't been shocked by an unexpected message from Gabriella.  
Gabriella: Hey Kels! Miss you loads x  
Kelsi didn't know what to say, it was rare that she was ever online at the same time as Gabriella who had become a social butterfly since starting college. She was hardly ever online, and even then she hardly ever responded to texts.  
Kelsi typed eagerly, she really missed talking to her. They had been really close back in school.  
Kelsi: Hey! It's been ages. How's your summer?  
Gabriella: It's been busy, I'm doing a summer course (I know, typical Gabriella, right?)  
Kelsi: You're crazy!  
Gabriella: I know, people keep telling me  
Kelsi bit her lip and decided to take the plunge, she typed slowly allowing herself opportunities to back out.  
Kelsi: So new boyfriend? He's cute.  
Gabriella sent a blushing smiley face and Kelsi smiled to herself remembering when her friend had done the same thing regarding Troy years ago.  
Gabriella: He's great. We get along really well.  
Kelsi: I'm really happy for you.  
Gabriella: How's everything with Ryan?  
Kelsi: Everything is perfect, he's still a gentleman.  
Gabriella: How's Troy?  
Kelsi gulped, she knew there was a possibility of this happening, she didn't know how she was meant to respond, she knew Troy wouldn't like the idea of them talking about him but at the same time she knew that he would expect nothing less from girls. She decided to go with the truth, less could go wrong that way right?  
Kelsi: He's not too bad, still not the same Troy he used to be though.  
Gabriella took a while to reply, Kelsi watched the screen eagerly awaiting her response.  
Gabriella: He'll be okay.  
Kelsi: Yeah of course he will  
Gabriella: Maybe he'll even move on  
Kelsi was about to reply, but right before her eyes Gabriella's green light turned off indicating that she was now offline.

Troy parked his truck outside his house, he looked over at the driveway where he usually parked, but this time there was no room, his parent's were back from their trip. He walked over to the garage where his dad was busy unpacking the car.  
"Hey Dad." He called out to grab his attention, his father turned around and placed his luggage onto the ground, he walked over to his son and greeted him with a tap on the back.  
"Troy, good to have you home." He said proudly, he had been more than happy with Troy's basketball results in the past school year.  
"You too." He laughed, helping his father with the bags, the two boys wandered into the house where Troy's mother was already in the kitchen.  
She took one look at her son and rushed over, kissing him on both cheeks. "I'm too happy to see you to even yell at you for the empty beer bottles." She gushed, holding her baby in her arms. She had suffered the most with her son moving out, he was her baby boy and it didn't feel right having a house without him in it.  
"Enough kisses." Troy laughed, his mother let go of the tight grip she held on him, and he laced his arm around her shoulders, he remembered when she had done that for him during those years before he outgrew her.

"What do you want for dinner? We can have anything." She told him, admiring her son fondly.  
"Pizza is good." He shrugged.  
"Oh Pizza!" She scoffed, "We can have pizza any time."  
Troy chuckled looking over at his dad who shrugged back at him. Troy looked down at his mother and smiled, "I couldn't say no to some of your famous meatballs."  
Her face lit up, "Alright, but why don't you invite the boys round? I haven't seen any of you since High School. Get the old gang around you can all shoot some hoops and maybe your father can run down to store and get some crackers for smores." She turned to eye her husband who looked like he was a little boy being told to wash the dishes.  
"C'mon." He groaned but she rolled her eyes.  
"Troy. Do me a favour, and don't end up like him." She teased causing her son to laugh.  
Troy sent out the group message inviting Jason, Zeke and Chad over for dinner. He considered including Ryan since he had unofficially joined their group but he decided against it, he didn't want Ryan to mention anything to do with Sharpay, not with Zeke hanging around, despite his innocent intentions for the blonde, he didn't need any more drama on top of things. It was going to be bad enough when his friends accidentally spill the beans about the Gabriella Break up!  
Chad was the first to arrive, his mother had sent him along with a salad which he had no idea of its contents as he placed it down on the Bolton kitchen counter, Troy decided to inspect it himself before his mother slapped his hands away.  
Chad couldn't help but laugh.  
The two boys ran up to Troy's room to play a bit of COD before the other guys arrived, Chad however decided to take this opportunity of newfound privacy to interrogate his best friend.  
"You know I was talking to Ryan earlier," He started, causing Troy to freeze, Chad grabbed Troy's shoulder it was enough to make the boy jump.  
"You do realise you don't have to tell me every time you talk to Ryan..." He teased, trying to keep it light between them.  
"He said something really strange though." Chad continued, watching to see if Troy would sweat.  
"He's always saying strange things dude." Troy laughed, not giving in.

"Something about a talent show?"  
"Talent Show huh? Sounds cool."  
"That you entered with Sharpay..." Chad cried, turning Troy to face him, he stood directly in front of his friend and grabbed onto his shoulders to make sure he was looking. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? Not only is she crazy, she's Zeke's ex and Gabriella's enemy." Troy glared at him for the last part so Chad took it back, "Okay fine who cares about the last part. My point is, this is not a good idea Troy. You should stay away from her unless you want another drama filled summer."  
"We're just friends, we're hanging out. When the summer is over I'll go back to college and she'll go back to scaring East High drama students, relax."  
Chad shook his head, "She's probably going to fall in love with you. You idiot."  
Troy refused to believe that, "She won't fall in love with me, and if she does then that's not my fault."  
"Was it your fault when you kissed her?"  
"That was a game."  
"Not to her."

"Do you know something I don't?"  
Chad shook his head and walked over to the window, "The guys are here." He announced, Troy nodded, walking towards the hallway. He turned back to Chad, "If you know something, you should tell me sooner rather than later." He advised before running down the stairs to greet his boys.


	10. Chapter 10

Troy watched as his father joked around with his friends, Chad was erupting in laughter at something Jack had said, if he were listening maybe he would have laughed along with them but he wasn't focusing, his head was elsewhere. He didn't even notice that his mother had sat herself down beside him. "Is there something on your mind?" She asked, placing her hand upon her son's knee.  
Troy shook his head, turning to meet her gaze. "Not really, I'm just tired." He lied, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She looked over at her husband, a smile on her face, he had Jason in a headlock the boys were all laughing around him. "Why don't you go and joke around with the boys?" She suggested, but Troy just watched, not saying a word. He knew that she hated when he did that, when he didn't answer her but he wasn't in the mood to muck around with the guys.  
"Gabriella broke up with me." He whispered hoping she heard him the first time. He didn't want to repeat that ever again, he hated those five words in that order with a passion, he was sick of having to tell everyone about this turn of events, he didn't like the way their eyes changed and when they made him feel like he was only half a person now that she was gone. He didn't want to be seen that way, he wanted them to see the same Troy they used to back before he'd even met her.  
"Sometimes the best way to get through pain is to face it."  
Troy didn't know how he would do that, his mother had always been good with girl advice, but this time he didn't think he could just do that. The way he felt was more complicated more complex. He felt like someone was reaching into his chest and poking holes in every organ like eventually he would pop like a balloon and shrivel up on the ground.  
"Maybe I don't want to." He said sadly, before Chad had grabbed him by the hand, instructing him that they needed him for a basketball game outside.  
He put on his game face and followed them outside.

Ryan was curled up on the couch with Kelsi when Sharpay walked in, she smiled at her brother awkwardly, "Sorry, was this like a date?" She asked with a mocking tone.  
Ryan rolled his eyes, "If you must know, couples are allowed to hang out without it being a date."  
Sharpay shrugged, "Whatever." She clearly could care less about her brother's date or hang out whatever he was calling it. She flopped onto her favourite sofa and stared at the screen, it was only a matter of seconds before her attention turned back to her phone.  
She was texting all of her friends, letting them in on her new Troy update. She knew it was crazy allowing herself to fall for Troy all over again but she couldn't help it. She was falling head over heels for the boy with the golden smile and the rock hard abs, she was smitten to say the least. She was finally having her chance with her leading man without Gabriella or any other girl getting in the way. Troy was her dream guy and there he was, practically begging her to sing with him.


	11. Chapter 11

Troy was exhausted, he and Sharpay had been rehearsing all day. They had decided to reprise the song they sang together two summers ago, he didn't even care that he had also sung that song with Gabriella that summer too. That was in the past, he was ready to win this competition and he knew (judging by the intense rehearsal he had just encountered,) Sharpay was pretty keen on the idea as well

"It feels good, doesn't it?" She asked, as they sat opposite each other on the Evans' expensive sofas.

Troy nodded, tired from all that singing and pooped from all the choreography. Sharpay however looked like she had hardly broken a sweat.

"Are you even human?" He had asked her earlier in the day, she had giggled and started from the top. It was like watching a machine at work, having her perform like that, even without an audience Sharpay never just sang, she was always performing.

Sharpay handed him a juice, he smiled and thanked her. "It's been good, singing again." He told her, she nodded, agreeing with him.

"You've missed it, haven't you?"

He nodded, "When Gabriella and I broke up, I dropped out of all my classes that had anything to do with singing or acting."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, you didn't do anything."

"Doesn't mean I don't feel bad." She said sympathetically.

"Hey," He shook his head, "Don't spend your time worrying about me. I'm fine. All you should be worrying about is this competition."

She laughed at his naivety. "I don't have to worry about that, we're good Troy, we're really good. We have this, trust me!"

Troy admired her confidence, he always had. "You really believe that don't you?" He asked, curious more than anything.

"What can I say Troy? I know winners when I see them," She looked over towards the toaster; their reflection stared back at her. She admired her hair, before bringing herself back into reality. "And we're pretty damn good looking ones at that." She smirked and Troy smiled.

The pair was interrupted, the doorbell rang throughout the house, Troy stood by letting Sharpay through. He listened to the sound of her heels knocking against the floorboards as she walked over to the front door.

He watched as she opened the door, hiding behind a bookcase, peeking like a creep. He jumped as soon as he was able to spy the visitor in the front entrance, Zeke. He was about to be in big trouble.

"What are you doing here?" Sharpay asked him, crossing her arms over her chest. Zeke ran his hand over the top of his head. He sighed, knowing there was no good answer.

"I miss you." He told her, not quite meeting her gaze.

"Well, I'm sure you do but we're not together anymore. You can't just come to my house whenever you want."

He nodded, "I know Sharpay, I'm sorry. You won't return my calls. I just needed to see you."

"Well now you've seen me." She said coldly.

"I love you Sharpay." He confessed, stepping closer. She stopped him, holding him back with her hand.

"You can't be here. I'm sorry." She shook her head and reached for the door, but Zeke was too quick.

"No, I'm not giving up on you this time. I spent years falling in love with you, and you gave me a chance but what happened? You didn't even try Sharpay, I can't let you break my heart. I know if you tried you would love me too." He kept moving closer, she knew he wasn't intentionally coming across as threatening but she was feeling uncomfortable, she pulled away, reaching for the door again.

"Goodbye Zeke." She said in a frightened tone, she couldn't deal with this now, not with Troy just around the corner. She had waited too long to have him interested in her, and she wasn't going to let Zeke get in the way.

Zeke had other plans, he grabbed her by the wrist, trying to make her listen more than anything.

"Please let go of me." She whispered, but he shook his head. He wanted, no he needed her to listen.

"Just listen to me." He begged, she kept shaking her head over and over.

"Get your hands off me you freak!" She screamed, and Troy ran out from behind the bookcase.

"Hey man, let her go. You're scaring her." He tried to intervene.

Zeke took one look at the man behind the voice and his face changed, what the hell was Troy doing there? He wondered, he loosened his grip from Sharpay and she broke herself free, turning straight into Troy's arms, Troy kept his eyes on Zeke, as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Whatever man." He scoffed, walked back to his car in defeat.

.


	12. Chapter 12

Troy flicked the light switch, up, down, up, down. He liked the way the room would flood with light, only to be evacuated into darkness a few seconds later. He had sat there alone on his bed for an hour, staring at the wall. He didn't want to think about anything, he just wanted to sit there unaware of the world. His head didn't agree with him, they rejected his idea completely, events circled his mind. He replayed conversations, the way Zeke looked at him in that doorway haunted him. Was this really worth it? Ending a friendship over some girl? He didn't know the difference between right or wrong, this whole situation was unlike anything he had ever let himself into.  
Chad was pissed, he was beyond that. From the string of texts he had chosen to ignore, Troy knew that he was in trouble. He had thrown his phone across the room, but even then it hadn't stopped vibrating. He didn't know how he felt about anything anymore. Most of all, he didn't know where his heart wanted him to go any longer.  
He hadn't stayed at Sharpay's much longer. She hadn't expected him to either. They soon said their goodbyes and he walked the lonely paths home. She had gone straight to her room. He hadn't talked to her since then.

"Honey?" Lucille, Troy's mother interrupted his thoughts.  
He looked up, startled.  
"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."  
"No, it's okay." He assured her, sitting down on his head, making room for her.  
She sat down, resting her hand on his knee. "You okay?"  
He shrugged, "I'm alright."  
"Chad stopped by, he wants you to call him."  
"I'll call him later."  
"Did something happen between you?" She asked, worried about her son.  
Troy didn't know what to say, he didn't know what the truth was anymore.  
"I don't know, he's just not my number one fan at the moment."  
"You two will work it out, you always do."

"Yeah, I'm just not sure if Zeke will..."

"Zeke?"

"Don't worry , it's nothing."

She kissed his forehead. "If you decide it's no longer nothing. I'll be here to talk, alright?"  
He smiled, nodding his head.  
She left the room, left him to his thoughts once again. He laid down and stared at the ceiling, wondering where he went wrong.

The last time he had seen Gabriella it had been fine between them, he'd taken her out for dinner, they'd stayed up late talking, he even bought her flowers, these beautiful yellow roses, she had told him she loved him over and over,  
"I love you for this." She had said as they laid side by side on his bed. He had turned over to watch her talking, he had loved the way her throat moved when she spoke, weird. He knew this, but he loved it anyway. He ran his fingers up and down her tummy gently, she smiled and looked over into his eyes.  
"Troy, I'm glad I met you." She had whispered, tucking her hair behind her ears.  
"I'm glad I met you too."

"You're one of a kind wildcat."  
He cringed at the nickname, that was one thing he liked about college, he wasn't just "Troy the wildcat." He was the new and improved Troy, he had mates, sure, but he was no longer all star Troy Bolton, he slipped through the cracks a little and he liked it.  
"I can't wait for summer." He whispered into her ear. Summer was when they decided it would be the right time, they would have been together for two and a half years, it was going to be special. They were going to go away together, make it something to remember.  
She smiled and nodded her head. He had thought that meant she was excited to, maybe she wasn't? Maybe he was just too blind to see how she really felt back then.

.


	13. Chapter 13

Sharpay frowned at the screen in front of her, a friend request from none other than Gabriella Montez appeared right there and then. She didn't know what to do with it, if she accepted. It meant Gabriella had a free pass to cyber stalk her, but if she didn't it would come across as though she had something to hide. She didn't want that to happen, she clicked on the accept button quickly, exhaling the breath she had been keeping locked inside of her.  
Almost instantly Gabriella had liked one of Sharpay's photos, one of her and Troy. Sharpay frowned. So that's what this was about huh? She could play this game too. She reached for her phone, scrolling through her messages until she landed on the thread of her and Troy's conversation.

Let's hang out today. My treat.

She pressed send, and logged out of her account. She was going to spend the day with Troy Bolton and she didn't care who knew about it.

Troy was hesitant, but at this point he felt like Sharpay was going to end up being his only friend. He parked his truck outside of her house, she squealed as she ran out to greet him. He hugged her, awkwardly. He had forgotten that she was a squealer.  
"Hey, what're we doing today?" He asked as she let go of him. He admired her outfit, or rather the way it fit on her body.  
"I thought we could go for a drive." She shrugged.  
"A drive to where?" He asked with a smirk.  
"There is this place 30 miles from here, I thought maybe you'd like to go on a balloon ride with me." She suggested coyly.  
Troy grinned, "Sounds great to me."  
Sharpay clapped her hands together and rushed back into the house, she appeared again with an oversized handbag, and a puppy following her trail.  
"No boi, you can't come with us." She baby talked the pooch. "I'll bring you home something, I promise." She cooed, picking up the dog and walking him back inside. "Sorry about that." She laughed, locking the front door to the Evan's mansion.  
"Hey, maybe we can walk him when we get back." Troy suggested.  
"Yeah, maybe we can." She agreed with a smile.  
Troy opened the passenger side door like a gentleman, Sharpay slid into his front seat, and buckled herself in. She ignored the fact that this car was filthy, and didn't have a working fan or air-con.  
"Which way are we headed?" Troy asked as they took off down the street.

.


	14. Chapter 14

Sharpay screamed, lifting her hands over her head, they were up high, the wind ran through her golden hair and Troy laughed at how unbelievably happy he felt from this height. He looked down over the edge of the balloon basket and watched as their world looked like tiny little ants. He felt like for once he was on top of it all and it felt good. Sharpay tapped him on the elbow, her phone in front of her outstretched arms, "Selfie?" She asked and he nodded, leaning in closer to her face, they posed in front of the open skies, silly faces, and smiles. Troy leaned in for one final photo, turning his head to kiss her cheek at the last moment. He knew that move was playing with fire, this was Sharpay for goodness sake, the girl who singlehanded tried to sabotage his relationship with Gabriella every chance she tried during high school, he didn't even know why he was spending so much time with her lately, especially at the price of his best friends in the world.

"Troy." Sharpay yelled over the wind, he looked at her and nodded indicating she now had his attention.  
"I'm sorry about the other day." She yelled, squinting her eyes from the sun.  
Troy smiled, shaking his head. "It's okay." He promised, although he wasn't sure Chad would see it that way.  
"No, really. I talked to Zeke, I told him we're just friends." She told him with a smile.  
Troy's face dropped slightly, is that what they were? Because, if he was sabotaging his friendships with the boys. Over a friendship, suddenly he didn't feel so great.  
Sharpay smiled at him, rushing over to the other side of the balloon, "Look at this view." She squealed, taking a bucket load of photos. Troy nodded politely, "Great view." He said half heartedly.

When the balloon finally landed, Troy felt less trapped. He started walking around as Sharpay headed straight to his car. He sighed deeply, watching her. Had it really come to this? Was he actually falling for her? He didn't want to be that guy, in school every guy had fallen for the drama queen, her blonde hair and her perfect body. He just hadn't seen her in any other way than the spoilt rich kid who always got what she wanted, she was manipulative and mean at the best of times. Lately he had started to wonder if she'd always been this sweet, shy person or if that came from leaving school and realising that she was no longer the star of the show.  
Sharpay wandered over to him, standing beside him on the grass. Troy let out a loud sigh.  
"You alright?" She asked, looking up at him.

He looked out over the field and nodded. "I'm alright." He answered, trying to convince himself.  
"I packed us a picnic." She told him with a smile, Troy turned towards her wondering if he had heard correctly.  
"Did you make it yourself?" He asked and she nodded enthusiastically.  
"Maria, our maid, she watched over me the whole time but I think I did a good job for my first time in the kitchen."  
Troy laughed, "Well let's see what you've got then."  
Sharpay excitedly ran over to the truck, she took out her bag and began excitedly explaining and showing him the sandwiches and the fruit salad she had made all by herself.  
"Fruit salad, you'll be a chef before you know it." Troy teased, taking the picnic rug from her, he spread it out on the grass, and sat himself down, spreading his legs out onto the grass. Sharpay sat cross legged beside of him, unpacking the lunch.  
"Hope you're hungry." She teased.  
Troy smiled, "It looks great, really."  
She smiled, and started nibbling at a corner of her sandwich. Troy was finished his within a matter of bites, he started helping himself to all the other snacks Sharpay had packed into her purse.

"Sharpay, can I ask you something?" Troy asked after a few minutes of silence.  
"You just did." She teased.  
"Before, when you said you spoke to Zeke..." He started,  
Sharpay nodded, not knowing where this was going.  
"When you told him we're just friends?" He added, hiding his face with embarrassment.  
Sharpay smiled, "Yeah, I mean I didn't want you two getting into fights over something so stupid like me."  
"You're not stupid." He defended, and she just shrugged. "What I'm asking is, did you mean that?"  
Sharpay was the one to hide her face this time, she looked away, out onto the field. "I mean, we're friends right? I thought that's what we were."  
"We are definitely friends." Troy agreed.  
"But if we were more than that, would that make us bad people?"  
"I don't think so."  
"Oh, good."

"Are we more than friends Sharpay?"  
She didn't answer, she stared out for a moment longer before turning around to face him, she studied his face, searching for the right thing to say, their eyes met and she nodded.  
Troy smiled, "This picnic was really sweet of you, thank-you." He told her with a smile.  
"You're welcome." She whispered, picking a piece of melon up with her fork.  
"You know, I was thinking maybe I could return the favour, I mean do you want to come over for dinner? My parents will be there, but we don't have to eat with them or whatever."  
Sharpay was amazed, did Troy Bolton really ask her over for dinner? Was this actually happening? She wasn't sure. All she knew was that after years of pining after him, she was finally the kind of girl that boys like Troy wanted to have in their lives.  
"Yes." She blurted out straight away, "I mean, yeah what are we having?" She tried to play it cool.  
Troy chuckled, "I don't know yet."  
"Surprise is good."

They talked for a while, joking and laughing until they realised it was getting late. Troy took off his jacket and helped Sharpay into its arms. She thanked him, and watched as he ran over to the car, he placed her bag on the front seat, and opened her door like a gentleman. "Today was great Troy, thank-you for coming."  
Troy smiled, nodding his head. "Thank-you for inviting me." They stood beside each other awkwardly for a few moments before both moving at the same time, bumping straight into each other.  
"Sorry," They both muttered at the same time, Troy moved again, tripping on her foot. She grabbed his arm to stead him, her manicure denting his skin.  
"So, dinner tonight?" He asked, moving out of the way finally.  
"Dinner." She agreed.

.


	15. Chapter 15

Troys mother was finding it difficult to understand, or at least that's the way she was making it appear as he stood in the kitchen telling her about their dinner guest. He had dropped Sharpay back at her place and rushed straight home. She wasn't coming over for another few hours, but he wanted to warn his parents in advance. Obviously that was a good choice, they were being less supportive than he imagined.

"Sharpay Evans? I thought you didn't like her after the high school dramas."

Troy shrugged, "things are different now."

"Is this about Gabriella?"

"Mom! No. This has nothing to do with Gabriella okay? Sharpay and I are just friends okay?" He told her, clearly embarrassed.

"Wasn't Zeke involved with her?" His dad suddenly chimed in.

Troy groaned, leaning his head back, with his hands linked behind him. "Just friends okay? What can't you get about that?"

"Troy, I'm not sure I like the way you're speaking to us right now."

"I'm sorry okay, I just want you to both be polite to my guest if that's not too much to ask for." He said calmly, turning himself around to face them. He gave them a huge tooth grin, and although they both knew he wasn't being 100% sincere, they both agreed.

"Of course we're going to be polite to her, we just wanted to know what's going on with you lately."

"Nothing is going on with me, nobody gets that I'm still the same guy, I'm allowed to hang out with a girl if I want to, and it doesn't have to be anyone else's business." He groaned, walking out of the room.

"Troy! We're not finished this conversation!" His mother yelled, looking over to her husband with a worried expression on her face.

"I don't know what's going on with him either." Jack told her, drinking his coffee.

"What are we going to have for dinner? It's not like this girl is used to having hotdogs...and I don't exactly have a longing to buy caviar"

"If she doesn't like our food, then she doesn't eat." He smiled, leaning over to kiss her sweetly.

Troy smiled as he scrolled through his Instagram feed, Sharpay had uploaded a few of their ballooning photos, her captions were witty. He liked that about her. He did feel a tiny but of guilt though, knowing Chad and Zeke could probably see the posts too, but what could he do? Ask her to take them down? That would probably upset her, and he didn't want to do that.

From: Chad  
Message: dude come shoot some hoops with the guys tonight.

Troy sighed, he didn't feel like playing basketball, and besides. He had Sharpay coming over.

To: Chad  
Message: can't tonight, maybe later this week?

From: Chad  
Message: if this is about you and Sharpay, don't sweat it man. Jason is setting Zeke up with a girl he met at college.

To: Chad  
Message: it's not about that. I just have other plans. I'll woop your ass another night. I promise.

From: Chad  
Message: alright man. I'll talk to u later

Troy was showered and dressed, his mother even commented on his strong cologne scent. He didn't mind though, he felt like he had a chip off his shoulders with what Chad had told him earlier.

"Please don't mention Zeke or Gabriella or anything embarrassing okay?" He instructed his parents, especially his father who tended to say the wrong things at the wrong time.

"Troy? Believe it or not, this isn't our first time having dinner with someone. We'll behave."

Troy nodded but he wasn't convinced, he was in the middle of adjusting his hair when the doorbell sounded. He took one last look at his reflection in the hallway mirror before rushing off to answer it.

Sharpay stood in the doorway, her dress was a light blue it matched her eyes, she was holding in her arms a bowl of salad, Troy couldn't help but smile, she was really getting the hang of the food thing wasn't she?

"Hey, you look great." He smiled, eying her up and down, she blushed delicately, resisting the urge to say "I know."

"Can I come in?" She asked nervously, and Troy stepped aside to let her pass.

"Mom! Dad!" He called out, leading Sharpay into his kitchen.

"Hi Sharpay, lovely to see you."

"Lovely to see you too." Sharpay smiled, placing the bowl down onto the kitchen counter. "I hope you don't mind, I've been trying out this whole cooking thing lately, and I thought I'd whip up a salad."

"That was really nice of you." Troy's mom smiled, the two Bolton men shared a look, and as Troy could tell his dad wasn't expecting this from the girl he knew from high school.

Much to Troy's delight, the four of them shared dinner together in the dining room. His parents were well behaved, asking her questions about New York and college. Sharpay was more than willing to talk about herself, and Troy knew that she was a bit self involved but for some reason he was more willing to overlook it these days.

It was after the dishes were done, an activity Troy was surprised Sharpay had offered and been declined with helping with. Troy took Sharpay up to his bedroom.

"Wow, if I had told myself years ago that one day I would end up in Troy Bolton's bedroom I would have checked myself into a hospital." She laughed as she followed him in.

"Well I could drop you off if you'd like?" He joked, sitting down on his bed, he patted the mattress beside him, offering her some room beside him.

"Your parents are great Troy. Tonight was really great."

"Wow, I bring you into my bedroom and onto my bed and you want to talk about my parents?" He teased her, making her smile.

"Sorry."

He smiled, playing with one of her curls.

"So, this Peyton guy. Was he like your boyfriend?"

Sharpay crinkled up her nose, hiding her face into her hands and squealing. "We're not doing this." She told him, her cheeks blushing red.

"Doing what?"

"Talking about our past relationships."

"Why not? I don't have anything to hide."

"Neither do I!" She squealed, whacking him softly with the back of her hand.

"Was he your boyfriend?"

"I wouldn't call him my boyfriend, but we had something in New York for a while."

"Does Zeke know?"

"Come on Troy, let's not talk about Zeke. He's your friend, and I don't want to say anything bad about him."

"Okay, let's not talk about Zeke." He agreed.

"Am I allowed to ask questions now?" She asked suddenly.

Troy looked at her and nodded straight away, although he was a little scared of what she was going to come up with.

"Was Gabriella your first?"

"First girlfriend or like are we talking sex..."

"Both I guess."

Troy smirked, "A gentleman never kisses and tells."

Sharpay raised an eyebrow curiously.

"We never had sex, I mean we planned to or whatever but I guess that's not something you should plan right? It should just happen and if it doesn't then obviously it's not meant to be or whatever the saying is."

"I've never either, but don't tell anyone. You'll ruin my street cred."

Troy laughed from his belly.

"I'm not going to tell anyone that."

"I won't tell them about you either."

"I think my friends all just assumed that we had done it anyway, so they probably wouldn't even believe you."

"Wait, so guys don't talk about this stuff?" She asked curiously.

"Well I mean, we talk. Just not always in detail or the full truth."

"So when you say they assumed, do you mean you have them reasons to?"

Troy turned away in embarrassment. His face was turning as red as a tomato.

"Troy!" Sharpay laughed. "You're terrible."

"I'm not terrible, I'm just a guy."

.


	16. Chapter 16

College had been an eye opener for Gabriella Montez, she had finally stepped out on a limb, become her own person and seen the world in a new light. Her mother called every other Wednesday to check in, but other than that she was finally on her own, standing on her own independence. She made new friends, and although they could never match up to her friends back at East High, she still had the best of times with them all, Taylor had made a trip to visit her, and the girls had a blast sharing all their stories and Gabriella especially enjoyed showing Taylor around campus. She hadn't expected to meet Nolan, and as the cliché went, it just happened.  
She wasn't a cheater, she knew that from the start. That's why she made sure to end things with Troy before acting upon her feelings. It was the hardest thing she had had to do, not knowing the right words or how she wanted to express what she was really feeling. The email was the best she could come up with, she knew it was harsh to be broken up with via email but what could she do? Drive all the way over to see him only to break his heart and drive all the way home again? She couldn't do that, and she didn't want to. She knew seeing him broken would just fill her with regret, and this wasn't something she wanted to regret.  
Even now, months later she still felt bad. Taylor had told her that Troy was still hurting and she hated that. He meant a lot to her, even before they started dating they'd always been friends and she didn't like that he was suffering.  
Nolan had offered to drive her back to Albuquerque but she had kindly declined. Troy was a big boy now, she thought that going back would just upset him further. She scrolled through the photographs on Sharpay's facebook, she couldn't help but worry about how close she had become with Troy lately. Were they together? She wasn't sure, and she was too scared to ask any of her friends in case she gave off the wrong impression.  
She grabbed her cell phone and dialled a number she hadn't used in a while, the Bolton landline.  
"Hello?" Troy's mother answered on the third ring, Gabriella almost hung up. She didn't know what to say really, she didn't even know if she was welcome to call the Bolton residence anymore.  
"It's Gabriella." She took a plunge, mentally hitting herself.  
"Hi Gabby, how've you been sweetheart?"  
"I've been good, really busy but good."  
"That's good hun, were you looking for Troy? Because I don't think he's here right now."  
"No, I um...just wanted to check up on all of you. It's been a while."  
Troy's mother smiled as she sat down on the living room sofa. "We're all great, it's been a long year but that's life."  
"I'm sorry I don't get to see you this summer."  
"It's alright sweetheart, you have a life outside of this town now."  
"How is Troy doing? I haven't talked to him since we broke up."  
"Can I be honest with you?"  
"Of course."  
"He's getting better. I caught him crying a few times since he's been home but lately he seems to be picking himself back up."  
"Do you think Sharpay has anything to do with that?"  
"Gabby, I know you have a history with that girl, but people change. I don't know if they're more than friends or if she makes him happy but maybe she's not the same girl you knew last year. Troy is a grown up now, and it's his choice to make. I don't want to come across as harsh but maybe it's time you both lived your own lives."  
"Maybe it is." Gabriella agreed.

.


	17. Chapter 17

Troy had spent the day at Sharpay's house; they'd done everything from singing to playing basketball together. That was the thing, they could do anything together. It was weird for Troy seeing this side of Sharpay, of course he still often saw glimpses of the girl he used to know, when she'd deliberately manoeuvre herself to be closer to him. It reminded him of high school and how she'd always somehow end up with an allocated seat beside or near him on class trips even though their names weren't beside one another's in alphabetical order. There had been times during the day when he could have leant over and kissed her, but so far he's been too scared of doing so. He knew that Gabriella was still on his mind whether he liked it or not, and Sharpay knew that as well. It wouldn't be fair would it? At least that's what he thought.  
By the time they'd finished their How I Met Your Mother marathon, it was already pretty late. Troy didn't feel like driving home so he texted his mother, telling her that he was staying the night. He didn't want to wait for her reply, already nervous as to what she would say. She had always been quite open in how she felt about certain things, and he knew she would have something to say about this.  
He was right however, she was concerned. Telling him to be safe, he rolled his eyes. Trust her to think he would be sleeping with Sharpay this early in their – whatever this was.  
Sharpay offered him the spare room, but he didn't feel like being alone especially not in this big house. She didn't mind at all. It wasn't long before they were asleep together side by side.  
If they had stayed up a little later, maybe they would have heard Ryan and Kelsi coming in late with another visitor.  
Troy's eyes flickered open as the sunlight streaked through Sharpay's silk curtains. He murmured half asleep and started rolling over. Sharpay groaned as he bumped into her, she pushed him away causing him to open his eyes. "Morning." He whispered, causing her to open her eyes too. Troy Bolton was in her bed? She'd almost forgotten.  
"Morning." She perked right up, flinging her legs over her side of the bed and rushing for her silk robe. Troy smiled, although he was still half asleep.  
"You can shower in my bathroom, I'll use the guest room." She told him, rummaging around for her things. Troy groaned, leaning back against the pillows, not wanting to wake up so early. It was only a few minutes before he heard Sharpay's scream from down the hallway, he rushed out of the bed, only wearing his sweatpants. He could hear Sharpay apologising, although he didn't know what for until he rounded the corner. Sharpay was face to face with Gabriella.  
"What are you doing here?" He asked her, folding his arms across his chest. A crowd was now gathering, Kelsi and Ryan were now peaking their heads in to see what all the fuss was about.  
"I could ask you the same thing." She said bluntly, turning to face Ryan who hadn't told her Troy would be there. Ryan shrugged, he hadn't known. Sharpay often let Troy park his truck in their multi car garage because Ryan preferred parking out front of the house.  
"Well I mean I live down the road from here, so my being here is less shocking." Troy defended himself.  
Gabriella's mouth dropped open, "You're here with Sharpay." She accused, "At least my friends are here, when I left you two weren't best friends."  
Troy frowned clearly angered by her tone. "When you left you and I were friends." He snapped, turning towards Sharpay. "Why don't you shower in your bathroom, I can have one after." He suggested, planting a kiss on the top of her head. Sharpay didn't know what to say, she just wandered down the hallway back to her room leaving the ex lovers to their tiff.  
Ryan and Kelsi quickly retreated back to Ryan's bedroom, not wanting to get in the way of the fight either.  
Gabriella sunk down onto the floor, her back against the staircase railing. "I'm sorry okay?" She told him, looking down at her feet.  
"You chose to leave my life, you can't just come back here and choose who I'm allowed to be friends with."  
"Troy! It's Sharpay! You know what kind of person she is."  
"No Gabriella, I don't know what kind of person you think she is, because I'm too busy getting to know the person she actually is."  
"I'm not saying this to hurt you. I want you to be able to move on, but I didn't ever expect that you've move on with her. She was nothing but trouble for us in high school."  
"We're not in high school anymore." Troy pointed out, "Everyone changes, you of all people should know that."  
Gabriella nodded, that was fair. "I'm just trying to look out for you."  
"I know you are, but you don't have to worry. I'd prefer if you didn't."  
She smiled sadly, before running her fingers through her hair gently trying to think of something to say to that but she was lost for words. She finally figured out what to say after a few minutes of lonely silence. "I'm trying, but you mean so much to me. I just don't know how you can be with someone who has never treated you right."  
"When we were freshman, Sharpay would always invite me to have dinner with her family at their country club, but I never went. Do you know why?" He asked, and Gabriella shook her head. "I never went because she was some drama geek with braces, my dad was the basketball coach and I had just made the team, and Sharpay was still an awkward 14 year old who loved theatre and I was too proud to be seen with her."  
"She wasn't like that for the whole of high school, if this is your way of making up freshman year to her then Troy, you don't have to do that."  
He shook his head, "You're missing the point. I judged her without knowing her, and you're doing the same thing right now. It's none of your business whether I am friends with her, or if I date her because you broke up with me. You've broken up with me so many times and Sharpay has always been loyal to me. Those times when she's tried to sabotage things, they weren't about hurting me. They were about keeping you out of her show, and maybe away from me. What's so wrong about that?" He asked her, leaving her shocked. Gabriella couldn't believe her ears and she felt for sure that Sharpay was somehow brainwashing him.  
"You wish she had succeeded." She whispered, clearly hurting by his words.  
"No, I wouldn't change high school for anything. What we did together has changed the way East High students treat each other, it was amazing. I don't regret singing with you or falling in love with you one bit, but we're over now and I don't want to fight with you about Sharpay or anything else."  
"I understand.".


	18. Chapter 18

Gabriella sat opposite Kelsi, Taylor and Martha at one of the local coffee shops. The girls hadn't been together in their foursome since last summer, so they were all excited when Gabriella announced that she was coming to stay for a little while.  
"This morning was horrible." Gabriella groaned, resting her head against the table, Kelsi wrapped her arm around her friend.  
"I didn't know he would be there, I would have warned you I swear!"  
Taylor held her hand against her heart, "I would have given that boy an ear full. Sharpay? He can't be serious."  
Gabriella sat back up and frowned at her best friend. "But you should have seen him, he looked happy around her and all I wanted was for the ground to swallow me up!"  
"Do you still like him?" Martha questioned, piping up for the very first time since the Troy topic had come up.  
"No, not like that." Gabriella said straight away, Kelsi gave Taylor a look. She didn't know if she believed her.  
"You seem awfully worried about him having a new girlfriend..."Taylor pointed out suggestively.  
"Yeah? With Sharpay! That's not a rebound, that's just being crazy!"  
"She's not that bad." Kelsi said innocently.  
Gabriella instantly turned to look at her friend with a shocked look worn upon her face, how could they be defending her? She'd made high school hell every time she schemed against all of them, why were they acting like this?  
"All I know is that when I left for college, everyone felt the same way about her. Except for Zeke, but he's in his own little world."  
Martha started to giggle, "Don't worry, we're not friends with her or anything."  
Gabby grabbed hold of Martha's hands and looked her in the eyes with a giant relieved smile. "Thank-you."

-  
Troy was recounting the events to Chad who was laughing his head off, "I would have paid to see that man." He told his best friend.  
Troy was just glad that Chad was still speaking to him after everything that had happened so far. This had been the rockiest their friendship had been since the day they'd met, he had been worried about it.  
"So you're not going to ask me about her?" Troy asked, laying down on the grass beside the basketball court they'd been playing at all afternoon.  
"About Sharpay or Gabriella?" Chad questioned as he ripped blades of grass from the ground.  
"Either? I don't know man. This whole thing is messing with my head." He groaned, turning over to bury his face into the grass.  
"So are you like dating now or what?" Chad asked out of nowhere.  
"Sharpay or..."  
"Sharpay."  
Troy rolled back over, "I think we are, but I'm not sure."  
"Why don't you ask her?" Chad laughed like it was the most obvious thing in the world.  
"Do I have to?" He asked groaning externally.  
"You kinda do man."  
Troy groaned even louder. He did not want to "define the relationship" at all.


	19. Chapter 19

They laid shoulder to shoulder atop of Troy's bed, he didn't dare reach across to take her hand, still entirely confused about this whole situation between them. He liked being in her company, but the way his friends were acting about it made him feel the same way he felt when they didn't want him singing. Chad was just about the only person in his life that wasn't making him feel bad over it. Gabrielle's friends were polite to him, but they barely said anything at all. He knew they were loyal to his ex, she was a great friend. He just didn't like the way it felt knowing his mates were the kind that said they wouldn't pick sides, only to actually do so.

Sharpay felt warm against his skin, and eventually he did stretch out his finger to caress her wrist. She didn't say a word, just a small smile ran across her lips instead.

"Gabriella broke up with me via email." Troy told her after a few more moments of silence. It wasn't exactly something Sharpay was expecting to hear about right now, but she turned her head around to face him.

"I'm sorry." She said softly, moving her hand around his so she could squeeze them gently.

"I guess she didn't want to waste gas coming to break up with me in person." He chuckled sadly, it still hurt sometimes, knowing that someone he cared so deeply about would choose to make him feel that pain.

"Maybe she didn't want to have to look at the pain in your eyes Troy." She suggested, trying to make him feel better. It was the least she could do, even if she didn't succeed.

"I don't want to be around people who can't look me in the eye when they hurt me. I want to be around people who don't want to hurt me in the first place."

"I've been hurt many times before, and trust me, sometimes I wish I could avoid the humiliation, and just read an email instead."

This time Troy rolled over to face her. They were both resting on their arms, watching each other carefully. "You've been dumped?" He asked, not knowing much about her dating history.

She nodded. "I mean not always in the romantic sense, but I've been rejected. I never really had any friends in school, nobody wanted to be around me. I had boys asking me on dates because of my looks, only to get to know me and say no thanks." Judging by the look on her face, Troy knew that they'd said a lot more than 'no thanks' to her.

"I'm sorry about high school. I know that I was a little dramatic and I let a lot of unimportant things get the better of me." She whispered, reaching out to touch his cheek. Her fingers were cold in comparison to the rest of her body, Troy closed his eyes as her fingers ran over his thin layer of stubble.

"It wasn't unimportant. It was important to you. I get it. I was the same when it came to basketball, if someone new came along and tried to take over my team, I would have been all over the place too." He told her, and yeah maybe she did make a bit of a scene, and made high school awkward and dramatic. Looking back on it now though, it was funny and he hoped she'd see it that way.

"All I ever wanted was the be the best, to have the best and to feel the best." She whispered, and Troy hummed in agreement.

"Troy, I was just about to..."

The pair both sat up and witnessed the shocked expression on the woman's face. It wasn't as though they had been doing anything, but having your mother walk in when you're curled up with your new lady friend, he could feel the blood rush to his cheeks.

"Uh laundry?" He asked, jumping off his bed to scramble together the dirty clothes he'd hidden earlier. Once the hamper was full, he handed it back to his mom. "Sorry." He told her, and his mother simply nodded. "It's fine Troy, you're allowed to have guests. It's just unexpected."

He nodded, following her lead. He didn't want to make this any more awkward than it already was. "We were just chatting anyway. If that changes I'll put a sock on the door." He joked, and although his mom laughed, he couldn't help but wonder if she was faking it for his sake. She wasn't Sharpay's number one fan.

When the door had closed again he turned back to face the girl who was laying on his bed, her hair was a little messy, but she still looked gorgeous just laying there amongst his mountain of pillows. "Your mom does not like me." She said with a pout, it made him smile but he really didn't want her believing that.

As he climbed back onto the mattress, Sharpay's arms pulled him down closer to her. The old Sharpay would have wanted to broadcast this to the world, show Gabriella what she was missing out on. Not this Sharpay, all she could think about was how she didn't want this to end. "My family's going away to my uncle's vineyard next weekend. You should come." She told him, hoping he would say yes. Kelsi was coming, and she didn't want to be a third wheel with her brother and his girlfriend.

Troy thought about the last time he'd spent time with Sharpay's family, they were great people, a little out of his comfort zone, but still he thought they weren't too bad really. "I'll see what I can swing with my parents." He told her, even though he was 18 now, hardly needed permission to leave his own house.


	20. Chapter 20

Troy tossed his duffle bag into the trunk of Sharpay's pink convertible. He was a little surprised that he could fit any belongings in with the amount of bags she'd already packed for herself. He pushed the trunk door closed and shuffled over to where the blonde was plugging her iPod into her car charger. She was sitting in the driver's seat and quickly turned around to face him. "I'm really glad you're coming." She said to him softly, her hand reached out to touch his wrist, careful not to be too invasive.

He looked down at where her manicured fingers were pressed against his skin. He nodded his head and flashed his teeth in a sweet smile. He didn't have to do much in the way of getting the weekend off. His parents were probably glad to have the house to themselves again, Chad didn't really mind either, he had his own relationship to give attention to, and there wasn't anyone else he wanted to give him an opinion so this was easy for him to accept the offer.

"Hey, Troy!" Kelsi's voice called out from the Evans' front door. She walked over to Ryan's car and set her own bag down in the back seat. It hadn't taken her long to become part of the family, and Sharpay couldn't recall a single moment where Ryan and Kelsi weren't joined at the hip anymore, as much as she felt happiness on her brother's behalf, she missed having him in her life, missed not having to share him with anybody.

Troy waved across at her before walking around the front of the car. The roof was up on the convertible, so he rested his hand on the inside of it, sitting down in the passenger seat as they waited for the rest of the family. "I'm glad I'm here too." He said to Sharpay, who was still watching him with fondness in her expression. He took her hand again, this time threading his fingers between hers. "I know it's a little weird for everyone else, but I like spending time with you." He said honestly, hoping she already knew that. This was not some kind of rebellion, he didn't use people to get back at his exes, he wasn't that kind of person. He didn't understand how it happened but it had and he was more than happy to let it continue.

"I'm sure with time that may change." She said, laughing at the expression on his face. "Other people's minds, not you enjoying spending time with me." she clarified, easing his mind in seconds.

Ryan walked over to where they were sitting, patiently waiting to get the show on the road. He placed a hand on Troy's shoulder as he leant down to speak to the pair. "Mom and Dad are delayed, shouldn't be too far behind us. If you want to follow Kels and me." He said, looking at the couple as he waited for them to make a decision.

Sharpay nodded. "We'll follow you." She told him, knowing it was a long drive and she really didn't want this day to be any longer than it had to be. Ryan nodded his head and started walking back to his own car, a graduation gift he didn't get to drive while away at college.

Troy picked up Sharpay's Ipod and started searching through her playlists. "Every road trip needs a great soundtrack." He told her as she started the engine, and pulled out of her parking space. She didn't need to tell him she agreed, the smile on her face said it all.

When Sharpay needed to fill up her car, the four of them decided to find somewhere to eat lunch. Troy went off with Ryan to see which establishment was the most appealing, leaving the two women at the gas station. Troy was too scared to make a remark about never picturing Sharpay pump her own gas, mostly because he thought he would hurt her feelings, but he found himself looking back at her from across the road anyway, admiration in his eyes.

"I know what you're thinking," Ryan said once they were safe across the road, standing in the parking lot of a fast food building. Troy looked across at him with curiosity, wondering what Ryan was trying to get out of him. "She's not always little miss perfect, she wears that mask to protect herself." He said to him, opening the door for Troy to walk inside first.

"I wasn't thinking that," Troy said to him, not wanting to come across as if he was judging her.

"We came from money, people expect girls like her to have everything all worked out, have a taste for expensive shit. She does, but that doesn't mean she doesn't work hard or appreciate a good veggie burger." He said with a smile, playfully nudging the other man with his shoulder.

"I'm beginning to work it all out on my own." He told him, feeling like he was discovering a brand new person each and every day. Sharpay was not the girl he thought she was, or at least she wasn't that girl anymore. He knew that she had layers, things that she shared with him weren't things she shared with everybody, and he wasn't going to take that for granted.

"Look, man, I'm not going to give you the protective brother speech, but seriously, be careful. She's not as strong as she makes out." Ryan continued as his eyes scanned the fluorescent menu in front of them.

"I'll keep that in mind."


	21. Chapter 21

Sharpay dropped her pile of magazines onto the table. Her brother was sipping from a vanilla milkshake, and Troy was finishing off a mouthful of cherry coke. She smiled at the basketball player before slipping down onto the seat beside him, fingers brushing over the vogue cover girl in front of her. "Tank is all full, reading materials sorted, now I'm ready to eat." She said warmly, touching Troy's knee with her own underneath the table.

Ryan nodded his head as his girlfriend sat down next to him, stealing the straw to take a sip for herself. "We weren't sure what you girls wanted, so we were waiting." He said, looking at the two women. Sharpay nodded her head and reached for her purse, she had decided that today was a cheat day, she didn't have to worry about what she ate because she simply didn't care. She rose to her feet, lifted her pink sneakers up over the back of the chair and started walking towards the counter. Troy chuckled as he watched how determined she was to get food, something he wasn't entirely sure he'd ever seen before. Kelsi somehow conned Ryan into ordering for her, not wanting to get out of her seat. She watched all three classmates as they lined up together waiting to order, turning her attention back to her phone that had started to vibrate in her pocket.

1 New Message

Sender: Gabriella

Message: I can't imagine spending a whole weekend with them. Good luck!

She smiled briefly, still feeling awkward about the whole situation. She'd come to learn how to deal with spending time with Sharpay, they'd even started bonding a little in the last few months. She was Ryan's girlfriend, and Sharpay understood that and was putting in an effort, which was somewhat nice when you were on the receiving end of it. She didn't want her best friend feeling like she was picking sides, or the wrong side rather. It was hard on her because Troy had always treated her with respect, always been a true friend. She hated that the break up had made things messy, she didn't want to be caught in the middle, yet there she was stuck right there.

She typed out her response, hoping it wasn't going to turn into a whole drama like it had the other morning in Ryan's hallway.

I'm spending a whole weekend with my boyfriend. I won't have any time to get caught up in Troypay drama. x

She sent it back to her friend before pocketing her phone, just in time for Troy to sit himself down across from her. "Do you remember when we went on that road trip looking at colleges in junior year?" He asked her with a warm smile. He unwrapped his burger and situated it between his lips to take the first bite.

She nodded, looking down at his second burger, she had forgotten how much teenage boys liked to eat. "Chad got us all lost." She said with a small laugh, wondering how they actually made it to all of those campuses in one piece, it was a miracle really. She could also remember Troy and Gabriella had a big fight, one that she had forgotten all about. Everyone had made it seem like the young couple were perfect, but now she was starting to see how untrue that was. "You know I think it's cool that you're moving on. I mean you deserve to be happy too Troy." She said to him, offering a sincere smile in his direction.

Troy wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, reached out to pick up his soda again. "Thanks, Kels." He said in a warm tone, he didn't know where that was coming from or why she felt the need to express it, but it made him feel good inside. He wanted to have his friends' approval even though he knew he really didn't need anyone to approve of his life choices. Sharpay was soon sitting beside him, nibbling on her chilli fries. He gave Kelsi another private smile before getting lost in the conversations with the twins again.

When they finally arrived at the vineyard, Troy couldn't believe how big the house was. He didn't know what he expected considering Sharpay's family home was practically a small hotel itself, but this was something else entirely. They had spent almost the whole day travelling and all he wanted to do was lay down and relax for the rest of the day.

Sharpay gave him a tour of the building, giving him the option to pick any room he wanted. He chose one that overlooked the pool, it was the closest room to Sharpay's, which he had thought about before making the final choice of course. Ryan had called out, inviting them both down for a swim with him and Kelsi. Troy stood by the window where he could already see the other male enthusiastically bomb dive into the water.

That was enough for him to dig around in his duffle to find his swimsuit, it had been such a long time since he had gone swimming, or spent time in a pool. He was soon jumping in himself, splashing Kelsi in the face with a tide of water, causing her to scream out, laughing her head off at how annoying he was. Troy had to duck for cover when she tried to retaliate, after her fit of giggles, and shocked expression had faded.

When Sharpay walked across the patio in a brand new pink two piece, his attention strayed. She rolled her eyes at him smirking across at her, lowering herself down on the side of the pool, slipping only her feet down into the depth of the cool water. "I don't want my hair wet." She warned, shaking a finger in Troy's direction.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Troy told her, mischievous grin still spread across his lips. Ryan pulled himself out of the water and walked up behind his twin. "I'm sorry." He said before pushing her straight into the water. Her screams were probably heard from the road at the bottom of the property, accompanied by three different tones of laughter.


	22. Chapter 22

Ryan and Kelsi were busy in the kitchen. They were trying to cook some kind of meal together, but Sharpay could mostly hear them giggling and having fun. She wasn't entirely sure that there was much cooking going on. She set her magazine down on the couch beside herself, looking up when she heard Troy walking into the living room. His hair was still damp from his shower, but he was dressed in a clean shirt and sweatpants, looking like he'd just walked out of the high school gym. She smiled and moved over to make room for him. He sat down and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She could smell the apple scented shampoo from where she sat and it made her smile to herself.

"I was looking around in the cupboards before and found the karaoke machine Ryan and I used to use to put on performances when we were children." She told him with a fond tone. She was drowning in memories looking around the room. The vineyard functioned during the week with a staff that lived off site, leaving production on the weekends, they had this big house to the four of them, Sharpay's parents had messaged ahead with an update, they probably wouldn't make it until Sunday, which meant they had another full day to themselves. Sharpay planned on making it a great weekend, making the most of not having her parents around to embarrass her around her new boyfriend, or whatever Troy was to her now.

"We should fire it up after dinner, good old fashioned contest can't hurt," Troy said to her, although he was well aware of her competitive side.

"Only if it's a team effort, I don't think anyone would play against me on my own, not even my own brother." She said with a small chuckle. It was no secret that she liked to win, but she was trying to let go of that side of her in favour of learning how to have fun and not get so caught up in the drama.

"Deal," Troy said with a smile.

That's exactly what happened after the dishes were done. Sharpay and Ryan had plugged in all of the necessary cords and booted up the old machine with the giant television as their screen. Kelsi didn't think it was fair to have the twins teaming up, so they divided them into boys against girls, it was something Gabriella would have hated, so Kelsi had no plans to tell her friend how much fun she had singing duets with Sharpay, who for once in her life had thrown out perfection and settled for actually singing for fun, laughing alongside her brother's girlfriend as if they were long-time friends instead of the strange relationship that they'd shared over the last few years.

The two girls completely lost their cool when Troy and Ryan did a perfect rendition of Wannabe, feeding off each other's energy to make for a side-splitting performance that left both girls laughing so hard they had tears in their eyes, and hands holding their sore ribs. There was no question as to who won the night, Sharpay mimed crowning them both the karaoke kings before slipping out into the kitchen to find a bottle of wine, something to celebrate with.

Troy settled down on the couch, feet resting up against the glass coffee table as he watched Ryan unplugging the karaoke machine. "It's been a long time since any fun has been had in this house." Ryan commented, walking over to sit down on one of the other couches. Kelsi instinctively moved closer to fit perfectly underneath his arm.

"We have plenty of fun in this house." Sharpay said as she walked back into the room, bottle of red with four matching glasses sitting on her tray. Troy didn't typically drink alcohol from a glass. He wasn't old enough to buy drinks in a bar, so his exposure to alcohol was stealing sips from his parents collection, or drinking out of plastic cups at college parties.

"Oh my bad, I forgot that you like to bring boyfriends here." Ryan teased her, leaning forward to grab himself a glass. Sharpay rolled her eyes and looked across at Troy, she hoped he didn't get the wrong idea. Zeke was the only boyfriend she's had in this house, and that was only because her parents invited him as a meet the parents weekend.

Troy gave her a smile, he didn't care about her history, he would be a hypocrite if he did. It wasn't like he hadn't done the same things with her as he had done with Gabriella.

Sharpay handed him a glass and started pouring him a glass, he took his first sip, making her gasp. "Hey, we're making a toast." She told him. Troy laughed and sat back against the head of the couch, he gave her a look that told her to go ahead, he would wait for his second mouthful.

"To friends, making memories, and having no chaperones!" She said as she raised her glass. Troy held his drink up in agreement, Kelsi and Ryan did the same. "Cheers!" Ryan said before taking a sip from his glass. Sharpay shared a glance with Troy before sitting down beside him, she was nursing her glass between her knees, melting against the warmth of his skin as his arm wrapped around her shoulder. "I'm having a great time." He whispered into her ear, sending shivers up and down her spine. She nodded her head and turned her face towards him. "I'm glad you're here, Troy." She said in return, her hand searching to hold onto his, she realised his hand was occupied by holding onto his drink. She reached up to take hold of the hand that was dangling over her shoulder instead.

"Alright guys, we're heading off to bed." Ryan announced, downing the last mouthful of wine. He set his glass down and stretched his arms up over his head. Kelsi stood up and did the same with her glass. "Tonight was fun." She said warmly, giving Sharpay a genuine smile.

The couple walked out of the room at a normal pace, but the sound of them running up the staircase wasn't as subtle as they thought they were being.

Troy's face made Sharpay giggle, but she inched closer to his body to rest her head against his shoulder without saying a word.


	23. Chapter 23

When Ryan finally woke up he was confused by the emptiness of his bed. He searched the sheets just to be sure but his girlfriend was nowhere to be found. A small groan erupted from his throat as he swept his legs out across the mattress and over onto the carpeted floor beneath it. He found his boxers sitting behind the dresser and carefully stepped into them to avoid the embarrassment of running into his sister or her boyfriend on the way downstairs.

Each step led him closer to the aroma of food wafting through the home, his stomach started to grumble which made him realise exactly how hungry he was. He let out a loud sigh before he rounded the corner to find his girlfriend flipping a pancake on the stove. He walked up behind her to steal one of the already made cakes, he folded one in half before taking a bite of the softly textured dessert, he grinned as Kelsi swatted him away playfully. "Where is everybody?" He questioned after swallowing his first mouthful.

Kelsi glanced over at him after she finished checking that her newest creation hadn't started to burn. "I don't know, the house was quiet when I got up. You were supposed to stay in bed so I could surprise you." She complained, flashing him a pouted lip as she pulled tightly on the strings of her nightgown.

"We can still eat in bed." Ryan pointed out before he started nibbling on his breakfast again. His girlfriend rolled her eyes but he didn't take offence to it, she adored him and everybody knew it.

Laughter interrupted the still air as Troy and Sharpay entered through the big glass doors between the kitchen and the patio. Kelsi flipped over the last pancake onto her plate before she switched off the burner and turned her attention towards the new couple. Sharpay was wearing sweats, and from the look of things she seemed to actually be sweating, that was definitely something Kelsi didn't expect to see this morning. "Where did you two sneak off to so early?" Kelsi questioned curiously. She promised herself that she wouldn't spy, Gabriella had moved on and so had Troy, she couldn't get in the way of that even if Gabriella hated this particular situation they were all adults and she didn't want to get caught up in it. She had a great time last night, they all had and if this was how things were going to be, then she wanted to get lost in it all.

Troy looked at Sharpay before he turned his attention over to his high school friend. "I got up to go for a run, Sharpay wanted to come." He told her, shrugging his shoulders. They didn't do much running, or rather they didn't do much serious running, it had mostly been the two of them chasing after each other, kissing a little, silly stuff he didn't think he needed to talk about over breakfast, or ever.

Ryan grinned from where he was standing by the table, he liked the smile on his sister's face, the warmth he always thought she had reserved purely for the theatre, she only lit up like that when she was happy, which usually happened when she was opening a new Jimmy Choo shoebox, or tickets to see a Broadway show. Today she was just happy to be alive, or happy to be in the same room as Troy, he was sure both of those things were equally as important to her now.

"It smells amazing in here." Sharpay complimented the other girl. Kelsi nodded her head, thanking her boyfriend's sister briefly. She resisted making a comment about how much sugar the blonde would usually refuse to eat when she had handed her over a plateful. The four young adults sat around the table with various fruits, jams and syrups to choose from. Troy's sneaker covered foot nudged Sharpay's beneath the table, she looked across at him as she ran her jam covered knife across the pancake on her plate, she wanted to lean across the table to kiss him but she knew she couldn't, or rather she shouldn't. The night before things had really changed for them as a couple, and now she knew that she didn't have any doubts about what was happening. She no longer feared that Troy was just using her for some Gabriella detox, she wasn't some ploy to make the brunette jealous because Gabriella was nowhere in sight, Kelsi and Ryan had gone to bed and yet Troy was still there on the couch with her, kissing her so tenderly with such sweetness that she had felt like she was floating on a cloud. They had kissed before, but last night had meant more to her than any of those previous times, and this morning had reconfirmed that for her, now she just wanted to kiss him all morning, hear his voice telling her how sweet she was, telling him how much she liked kissing him in return. The sweet nothings that used to make her feel sick were now all she wanted to hear. She pushed her seat back and walked around the table, her fingers brushed against Troy's bare arm on her way to the fridge. She poured two glasses of orange juice and placed one down on the table in front of her new boyfriend. Troy placed a hand on her hip and squeezed the bare patch of skin between her tank top and her bright pink sweat pants. She smiled, feeling warmth covering her whole body as she pulled away.

"Where's mine?" Ryan asked her, trying to be an annoying brother. Sharpay passed her glass over to him which would have knocked him off his feet if he wasn't already sitting down. Ryan took a sip before he handed the glass back to her. She sat beside him again, both siblings sitting across from their significant others, she smiled warmly across at Troy again before her attention returned to her pancake.

"Mom and Daddy are coming today." She said softly after she had finished slicing her food up into bite sized pieced.

Ryan had completely forgotten about his parents joining them on this trip. He knew tonight wouldn't be the same as it was last night. He wouldn't be sleeping in the same bed with his girlfriend, his very naked and extremely beautiful girlfriend. His parents weren't prudes, but he knew they would see to it that each of them would have their own bedroom, and it was expected that all four of them would stick to the arrangements. He didn't want to upset anybody and he knew Kelsi didn't want to either. He nodded his head as if it wasn't important, he did enjoy his parents company, but when he compared it to spending time with his girlfriend it did seem like a downer.

"Daddy wants to take you and Troy out for something." Sharpay smiled, she didn't know what her father had in mind but he had always loved Troy, she didn't think she had anything to worry about. What she was most concerned over was the fact that she'd be stuck with Kelsi and her mom while the boys were away, and that could get real awkward real fast. She took a sip from her glass and avoided Kelsi's eye, she knew the other girl would feel the same way. "I'm sure us girls will find something to do in your absence." She said in a warm tone, her smile was wide but her eye never once met with Kelsi's. She was trying to get along with her for Ryan's sake, but that wasn't always so easy.


End file.
